My Thoughts On The iPad For Anyone That Cares
The Device: it is revolutionary, actually. The file system has been abstracted away. The “computerness” is gone. It is better than an ereader and miles beyond the Chumby. It does set the standard for a new device category: the information appliance. It will be the axis around which the rest of the market spins. Ultimately, this is good for bookland.
The Market: the iPad won’t be successful. The market for casual media consumption is not big enough to blow the doors off the way iPhone did. But the A4 chip points to Apple’s possible dominance in mobile processing speed. And the cheaper data plan points to the eventual ubiquity of Whispernet-like connectivity in every device, everywhere. And the inclusion of mouseless-productivity apps sends that dev area mainstream in a way that can only lead to good things.
The second generation iPad will be great.
An iPhone with an A4 chip will amaze.
iLife for Mac with iPad-influenced UI will be awesome.
An iPad running Google OS would rule.
I won’t be buying one.
iBooks: I don’t have enough info about the ebook story to have a full opinion about what this may mean for publishers, but essentially a new high profile ebook store is a good thing for book lovers. The launch of iBooks does however kill forever Big Content’s chance of selling direct to consumer. From 2005 until today, publishers had a chance to own the primary interaction with their customer. Because they didn’t want to anger past business partners like B&N, Indigo, and the indies, book publishers ceded control to Amazon and Apple. Stupid.
2 Comments